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Mount&Blade: Warband is a stand-alone expansion pack for its predecessor, the action role-playing video game Mount&Blade. The game was developed by TaleWorlds and was published by Paradox Interactive on March 30, 2010.http://www.paradoxplaza.com/press/2010/3/paradox-interactive-announces-gdc-10-line-up Warband is the first stand-alone expansion for Mount&Blade and was first announced in January 2009.http://www.gamersdailynews.com/story-8154-Paradox-Interactive-New-Titles-Announcement.html A sequel, called Mount&Blade II: Bannerlord, will follow Warband. As Warband is an expansion of the original game, there were many improvements made. New Faction The expansion includes a new faction named the Sarranid Sultanate, the faction seeming to be based on two empires: the Sassanid Empire, which ruled the pre-Islamic Middle East around the time of the fall of Rome, and the Mameluke Sultanate, ruled by the Mamelukes many centuries later in Egypt. The faction's units resemble the forces of the Mameluke Sultanate in appearance and composition. The Overland map has been completely rearranged to accommodate the new faction. You can also properly create your own kingdom and rule over vassals as can any other kingdom's leader. The vassals also no longer have the title of lord, which is changed depending on the faction they belong to: *Count: Swadian and Rhodok Lords. *Boyar (term for Slavic nobility): Vaegir Lord. *Jarl (pronounced Yarl, term for Scandinavian nobility): Nordic Lord. *Noyan (Mongolian title; comes after the individual's name unlike every other vassal): Khergit Lord. *Emir (Arabic term for 'Commander', or 'Leader'): Sarranid Lord. *Lord: Still used for lords belonging or seeking to belong to the player-founded kingdom. Other New Features *Bandit camps *New character movement and swordplay animations. *New character horseback swordplay mechanics--added the ability to change the side of a held slash. *New character fighting mechanics and animations--added the ability to kick. This drops a player block, will damage through enemy blocks, and adds blunt damage. Added a new couched lance mechanic, most importantly being time-limited couches. Added automatic shield blocking of some missiles even when shield is not explicitly held up. Added chambered parrying--attacking at the right time in the right direction will parry an incoming attack and deliver an attack. Horses now have a linear physical presence that makes it impossible to turn on the spot if objects are in the way. To compensate, horsemen AI is greatly improved. *Balanced parties (the bigger your party, the bigger the parties of roaming bandits become). *Command and found your own kingdom, recruit lords from companions and other factions, and take over Calradia. *Prisoner ransom is now differentiated. Skilled prisoners will price more, while brigands and recruits price less (Galley slave merchant in Tihr will buy them for same price of 50 denars regardless of rank). *Buy Land for a Productive Enterprise: talk to a guildmaster to set up a business that produces goods from raw materials, eg. a bakery to make bread from grain. *More Quests. *The player and other vassals can get married. Multiplayer You can now fight against real players all over the world, on battles of 64 players max on official servers. Unofficial servers have supported as many as 222 players. Multiplayer for Mount&Blade: Warband includes a lobby with LAN and internet capabilities and rooms with a maximum of 200 players. In-game you could choose classes below the maximum upgrade. For example you could choose from a Swadian Infantry, Swadian Crossbowman, or a Swadian Man-at-Arms. You can also customize your in-game character with the money that you get from killing other players. The amount of money that you start with is decided by the host. Balance changes The game also received a few balance changes. This is most noticeable in that there is more food available of more types and it generally gives higher morale boosts than in Mount&Blade. The game also sizes bandit parties relative to the player's party size, so if you have 40 troops you'll be more likely to encounter bandit parties of 30-35 troops. Mods Warband, like its predecessor, was designed with modding in mind, with even the normal game being a module. As a result, many mods providing new opportunities, settings, characters, dialogue, objects, etc. were constructed by the fans. Trial version All Mount&Blade games can also be downloaded as a "try before you buy" trial version from TaleWorlds' website or the Steam store for free. The trial version allows you to play the single-player game until you reach level 7 at which time it automatically saves your character and quits. After purchasing and entering a serial key, the limit will be unlocked and you may resume playing with the same character and access the multi-player servers. You will not need to download the game again. Within the trial version, one can amass a large amount of experience with the game. This is the period in which a player learns about the game's mechanics and fighting. Eventually the character will understand in-game politics and begin to choose different pathways in character creation to boost their chances of being a vassal. Several players who still rely on the trial version of the game can easily become vassals of their chosen faction due to their experience with the game. Steam Achievements When you buy Mount&Blade: Warband (but not the original Mount&Blade) on Steam you may earn achievements. Napoleonic Wars DLC Napoleonic Wars is a multiplayer-only downloadable content (DLC) for Mount&Blade: Warband. Notes and references External link *http://www.taleworlds.com/main.aspx Warband Category:Warband